AFCB need cover for Adam Smith - so no sale Spurs!

While Spurs are said to be keen on making a bid for Adam Smith, it will be important for the Cherries to keep hold of him and bring in another right back in my opinion. If there is one AFCB player who is almost guaranteed to get a heavy challenge or two against him in a game it is Adam Smith. I cringe every time he goes into a challenge that he is not favourite for, as he is not that big a defender, even if he never shirks a 50:50. His cover is usually Simon Francis if a replacement is ever needed, but it's about time he had a regular challenger for his place in the team and perhaps Eddie will look at that this summer.

Adam Smith may be a target for Spurs, but AFCB really
need another right back even if Adam stays.

It's often the case that one position in the team tends not to be as well covered as the other and it's fairly evident that AFCB have relied on Adam Smith to play a lot of games. While this is good in itself, the difficulty will come when the games begin to take their toll. Simon Francis is also going to find it harder to make the energetic runs that he was always renowned for when he played in the position, and if Adam does find he is out for a few games at any stage, wouldn't it be better to keep Simon Francis playing at centre-back?

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The type of right-back that AFCB need as a back up has to have pace and must be extremely fit, and really it favours a younger player that Smith to learn the role. One player that comes to mind is Nathaniel Chalobah at Chelsea. He had a season pretty much on the bench, but he played excellently for Reading in the second half of the 2015/16 season and a loan option would be good business for AFCB if Chelsea didn't want to sell. He's also another England U21 player with a lot of loan experience behind him - Watford, Napoli, Burnley, Middlesbrough - to name a few.

Whatever player that has to deputise for Adam Smith is not going to feel they can easily get in the tam though as Adam only missed two games last season. You never know where the problems are going to come though and I'd certainly feel happier if Francis could now fully concentrate on his centre-half role to make sure he nails it against the best attackers in the league.

In other news, Harry Arter puts in a man of the match performance against Uruguay as Republic of Ireland win 3-1.